Columbia Hub

Interview was exactly as described here by everyone else. We held the interview at his office in a meeting room. It started off as a normal job interview and slowly changed into a conversation. I also felt that he placed a lot of weight on the time that he gave me to ask questions (remember to tailor your questions to the interviewer – no point asking a interviewer who graduated 20 years ago which class to take or how was his time at CBS). Questions that he asked me: 1. Why an MBA (he asked me to use the opportunity as well to walk him through my CV)? 2. Why Columbia and why New York? 4. Do you have any particular classes or professors in mind? 5. As I am in investment banking he asked me to detail a recent deal that I worked on (he went into technical questions – not valuations but rather what is the driver for the industry, how would x, y and z impact valuation, etc – but they were basic questions nothing compared to a real banking interview) 6. Give me a situation where you worked in a team. 7. Give me a situation where you had difficulty in concluding a deal. 6. Give me a situation where you had difficulty with a team member. 8. How many people have worked for you (juniors), in what capacity and how did you manage them? 9. What are you future plans; both short term and long term? 9.1 What would you do if your plans failed? I told him that I would like to return to my home country post-MBA to which he responded if this was absolute or if I am flexible and willing to relocate and why? 10. Have I spoken to alumni and / or current students and who are they – he didn’t care about names rather how do I know them, etc. After about an hour he gave me about 15 min to ask questions.

This forum was a great resource in helping me prepare for the interview and get accepted to CBS, and I wanted to submit my experience in order to help others in the future. Where as in previous years, it seemed like the CBS admissions office gives you a list of 6 people to contact. This year, the admissions office only offered one alumnus to contact. We set up the interview in a coffee shop – casual setting, very relaxed format. I wore a blazer, and the interviewer was in casual wear. She started by giving me a bit of background on herself, and dove into questions for me. I was asked: Tell me about yourself. Why MBA, and why Columbia? Why an MBA in the longer context of your future goals? Tell me about a time when you were a leader. What do you do outside of work? What activities do you plan on being involved with at CBS? Why an MBA even though you majored in business for undergrad? What if you don’t get into the career you planned for? Any questions for me? Overall, the interviewer was very encouraging and made sure I was comfortable. She took copious notes, and noted down the details of the classes and activities I said I planned to be involved in at CBS. The conversation lasted about one hour in total.

CBS has a very interesting interview model. They do not require or even offer on campus interviews. Their model is about people doing interviews in the community and not trying to burden people with coming to NYC. I liked this approach. They match you with up to 6 alums within a certain distance of your area code and its up to you to choose and reach out to someone. I only got 4 alum matches as theres not many CBS folks in my area. I recommend doing proper LinkedIn and Google searches to pick the person you are most comfortable with and feel would be a good fit with depending on careers interests or other. I chose my interviewer based on their very interesting and strong career history which I felt could make them a great asset to me in the future. But pick based on your own criteria. Often, they may not respond so you may end up emailing two or three of them so don't get hung up on one person. The first alum I contacted responded. We met at his office and he was a very relaxed, easy going guy. Not as intimidating as his resume would suggest. We started off with one big question up front, sort of a why MBA/why now/why Columbia combo, that kicked things off. So have your story and the brand you want to communicate very clear in your head as the questions may not come as you expect. After this big intro question it was an extremely laid back conversational feel. We went off topic a couple times, but stayed within the general themes and never really dug into my resume, although I would be very prepared in the resume department. He ask me very bluntly what other programs I had applied to. Be prepared for this question and have a rational answer as to why you applied to each. Don't be afraid to say CBS is your top pick despite applying to those other schools. Overall the interview went great. Off campus interviews can be tricky as the alums can stray from the script and can ask whatever they want so you have to be a bit more prepared. Outside of the usual questions, I would know what brand and statement you want to get across to the interviewer. They must then submit a review survey back to CBS so ensure they take a positive take away from you as they may be submitting feedback days later.

I got my interview at Columbia at the very far end of ED applications. I was already preparing myself for a ding without interview. I am glad and feel lucky to have received the invite for interview. I have given the interview process a 4/5 star as I believe the policy of contacting 1 alumni at a time does limit your options and as these alumni are almost always busy, it becomes very difficult to schedule one. CBS' rolling admission does put a pressure on you to get your materials and itnerviews in as earliest as possible. My first interviewer was out of town and thus could not reply in time to my request for an interview. I was lucky that my second interviewer was very quick to respond back to my request for an interview. I scheduled my interview for 4 days later and the drive to the interviewer's office was 30 minutes long. I arrived at his office at 11 AM and he was very cordial and happy to interview me that day. We started off with the alumnus providing his background, his current and past work experiences and then we moved onto the actual interview. I was told at the beginning that the interviewer already had some questions prepared to ask me as I had already sent my resume with the interview request. It started with some very particular questions and he wanted to understand why I chose a particular path be it my education or my professional experience. After I was also asked the reasons for opting for my field of studies whether it was my UG or Master's studies or my first job or extracurriculars I involved myself with. I was asked the standard why MBA, why CBS, Why NYC, Plan B, what other schools did you apply to and why, why did you apply to CBS in ED round when you applied to other schools etc (all the standard questions that you will get from clear admit's or mbamission's interview guides). The interview lasted 45 minutes and was very conversational. I was taken aback when I was asked about my plan B if I am not able to lets say get courses of my liking or internship/full time offer in the industry of my choice. At the end of the interview, I was asked to talk about any questions I might have for the interviewer. 1 lesson I learnt was to tackle every question in a way that will lead you to talk about how/what are you going to bring to CBS' community. Once you do that convincingly, interview should be easy to navigate. Make sure to have a plan B type of answer prepared so that you can show that you have done your due diligence. The interview feedback was submitted the very same evening Final Result: Ding after interview. Probably I was not able to tackle the Plan B type of questions convincingly or 'diversity' of the class of 2018 played a role, I wouldnt know for sure. Anything different for next time: Probably go over the interview guides by stacy blackman and clearadmit in detail to cover all the possible interview questions and their possible answers.